I'm wondering how the Kharlovka is fishing these days. When I first fished it back in 1992 the camp was just built. I was just one year after the first exploration was made by the British company Roxton Bailey Robertson. Christopher Robertson offered me a rod at $3000.00 USD for a prime week (June 28 - July 5). I was just one of SEVEN rods at the camp. The fishing was great, with many huge fish caught in both the Kharlovka and the Eastern Litza.
The following year, in 1993 I fished the Varzuga and Pana systems. Numbers of fish in the Varzuga were staggering to me, and 12 fish days were not abnormal. Yet the size of the fish were not impressive with most being in the 10 pound range. I then made reservations to go back to the Kharlovka in 1994....for approx $5,000 USD......a lot of money for even prime time.
But when I got there, there were now 12 rods scheduled to fish, five more than in 92. To complicate matters, the water was quite low that spring shrinking the fishable water down to half. I found myself sharing beats with three other rods instead of just one partner. In other words, they forced two groups of two rods to fish one "Reduced Beat". We wound up crossing lines because each group fished from the opposite banks. It was a mess......and at that time, I was quite upset that I paid so much money to compete for the sweet spots. I vowed never to return.
Now I see on the web that they have built a permanent lodge on the River, in what seems to be in addition to the camp. I wonder how many guys out there have fished this river recently and can share their experience as it relates to my point.....which is, "is the Kharlovka worth the money" and are their enough fishable beats on the river to support all the increased rods?
The following year, in 1993 I fished the Varzuga and Pana systems. Numbers of fish in the Varzuga were staggering to me, and 12 fish days were not abnormal. Yet the size of the fish were not impressive with most being in the 10 pound range. I then made reservations to go back to the Kharlovka in 1994....for approx $5,000 USD......a lot of money for even prime time.
But when I got there, there were now 12 rods scheduled to fish, five more than in 92. To complicate matters, the water was quite low that spring shrinking the fishable water down to half. I found myself sharing beats with three other rods instead of just one partner. In other words, they forced two groups of two rods to fish one "Reduced Beat". We wound up crossing lines because each group fished from the opposite banks. It was a mess......and at that time, I was quite upset that I paid so much money to compete for the sweet spots. I vowed never to return.
Now I see on the web that they have built a permanent lodge on the River, in what seems to be in addition to the camp. I wonder how many guys out there have fished this river recently and can share their experience as it relates to my point.....which is, "is the Kharlovka worth the money" and are their enough fishable beats on the river to support all the increased rods?